The Ascension
Viktor: | weights = Konnor: 255 lbs (116 kg) Viktor: 217 lbs (98 k) | billed = | promotions = WWE's FCW and NXT | debuted = August 28, 2011 | disbanded = }} The Ascension is a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Konnor and Viktor. The Ascension started out as a stable which also had Kenneth Cameron, Ricardo Rodriguez, Tito Colon, and Raquel Diaz. In March the Ascension would become a tag team after O'Brian returned from injury while the other three members disbanded from the Ascension. As of July 2013 the group consists of Konnor and Viktor. History Background and Formation (2011-2012) Ricardo Rodriguez and Conor O'Brian were initially allies during the season 4 of NXT. Roberto was the ring announcer for Alberto Del Rio, who was acting as pro to mentor Conor, who was a Rookie competing to win.The two came at odds with one another as they competed for Alberto's favour. Ricardo misled Conor using a path of cheese (as Conor was constantly called very rat-like) and the two eventually had a match. Conor was ultimately eliminated, and Alberto got a new pro, Brodus Clay, who parted ways from him after failing to defeat Edge at WrestleMania 2011. An additional link to Mexican heritage is that Raquel Diaz is the daughter of Eddie Guerrerro and Vicky Guerrerro, a friend of Alberto Del Rio's. On August 28, 2011, Ricardo Rodriguez announced the formation of a stable called The Ascension, with members including Kenneth Cameron, Conor O'Brian, Tito Colon, and Raquel Diaz. The first match to include all members in some capacity came on September 1, 2011, and saw Cameron, Colon and O’Brian, accompanied by Diaz, defeating CJ Parker, Donny Marlow and Johnny Curtis. On September 30, Cameron and Colon had a shot at the FCW Tag Team Championship but lost to the current champions of CJ Parker and Donny Marlow. By October, the Ascension was no longer associated with Rodriguez, as video packages promoting the Ascension only featured the other four Ascension members without Rodriguez. By the end of November the Ascension had all but disbanded because O'Brian was injured, Colon had been called up to WWE to team with his cousin Primo (see Primo & Epico). Diaz became Queen of FCW and distanced herself from the group.This left Cameron as the sole survivor of the Ascension and he continued to use the Ascension gimmick during his appearances. However the disintegration of the Ascension would prove to be beneficial for Cameron as he would go onto a three month singles winning streak beating the likes of Jiro and Calvin Raines until he finally lost to Colin Cassady on February 23, 2012. O'Brian and Cameron (2012) On March 15, 2012 Cameron was accompanied to the ring by the returning Conor O'Brian in his match against Byron Saxton, the match ended in disqualification when O'Brian interfered. Cameron and O'Brian began wrestling as a tag team using the name The Ascension, and their first tag team match together came on March 23 when the two defeated Jason Jordan and Xavier Woods. The Ascension suffered their first loss when the pair lost to the FCW Tag Team Champions, Corey Graves and Jake Carter, in a title bout. After this loss the Ascension would go on another winning streak, including winning a fatal four way elimination against the teams of Adam Mercer & Chad Baxter, Jason Jordan & Mike Dalton, and Brad Maddox & Rick Victor. On June 6, 2012, The Ascension made their debut for Season 6 of WWE NXT, defeating Mike Dalton and CJ Parker with their double team finisher, Downcast. They would later enter a rivalry with the Usos, with the Ascension getting the better end of most of the encounters between the two teams. The Ascension also defeated another main roster team in Tyson Kidd and Justin Gabriel on the October 3, 2012 episode of NXT. However, Cameron was released on November 30, 2012 after being arrested. NXT Territory (2013-Present) From there O'Brian worked as a singles wrestler keeping the Ascension gimmick on his own. This lasted until May 2013, when he began teaming with Rick Victor at house shows following Victor's return from an injury (Victor was incorrectly attributed in dirt sheet reports as Judas Devlin, another developmental wrestler). Following O'Brian's victory over Alex Riley on the June 5, 2013 edition of NXT, Victor appeared on the ramp, getting O'Brian's attention. Victor would officially accompany O'Brian to the ring as his partner in The Ascension on the July 3 edition of NXT as O'Brian defeated Andy Baker. After winning a gauntlet match to determine the number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team Championship, the Ascension defeated the team of Adrian Neville and Corey Graves on the October 2 edition of NXT to capture the titles. On the 8th of November the two were renamed, Connor O'Brian renamed to Konnor and Rick Victor renamed to Viktor. For the majority of their title reign; The Ascension would battle and dismantle local wrestlers in mere minutes with very little to no offense from their opponents. Their first major title defense was against Too Cool at NXT's first live event; NXT Arrival where they emerged victorious. The Ascension began demanding competition in the weeks following, moving up from local wrestlers to random combinations of teams made up from contracted wrestlers. While still disabling and annihilating their opponents week after week, they were confronted by a team of masked wrestlers; El Local and Kalisto who challenged them for their tag team titles at the second live event, NXT Takeover. At the event, after hitting Fall of Man on El Local, The Ascension successfully defended their NXT Tag Team Championship titles. A NXT Tag Team Tournament was set up for the winning team to become the #1 contenders to face the Ascension at NXT Takeover II. On September 3, the team of Kalisto and Sin Cara won the tournament to become the #1 contenders and will face the Ascension at Takeover II. At Takeover II, The Ascension lost their NXT Tag Team Championship to Kalisto and Sin Cara. In wrestling *'Konnor finishing moves' **''Fall of Man'' (Flapjack followed by a running leg drop to the back of the opponent's head) **''Roof Top Drop'' (Full nelson slam) *'Viktor finishing moves' **''Canadian Lifter'' / Psycho Crusher (Flying European uppercut) *'Kenneth Cameron finishing moves' **''Curb Stomp'' (Head stomp) **''Velvet Noise'' (Swinging sitout jawbreaker) *'Tag-team finishing moves' **''Downcast'' (Jawbreaker by Cameron followed by a Flapjack by O'Brian) **''Fall of Man (Legsweep (O'Brian) / Spinning heel kick (Cameron) combination or a Legsweep (Konnor) / Flying European uppercut (Viktor) combination) *'Entrance Themes' **"Let Battle Commence" by Daniel Nielsen (FCW / WWE; 2011–2014) **'"Rebellion"' by CFO$ (NXT / WWE) (2014-present) Championships and accomplishments *'WWE NXT''' **NXT Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) Konnor and Viktor External links * Profile at CAGEMATCH.net * Konnor's WWE.com Profile * Konnor's Twitter profile * Viktor's WWE.com Profile * Viktor's Twitter profile Category:2011 debuts Category:Teams and stables Category:Florida Championship Wrestling teams and stables Category:World Wrestling Entertainment teams and stables Category:NXT Tag Team Champions